


Foreign Languages

by starfishstar



Series: Torchwood Files [2]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alien Language, Gen, German, Latin, Welsh Language, not so alien language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 10:05:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3892291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starfishstar/pseuds/starfishstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five Torchwood members, five language-related anecdotes. Or, Jack Harkness gets to know his team, one foreign language at a time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Foreign Languages

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Другие языки](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7112929) by [bfcure](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bfcure/pseuds/bfcure)
  * Translation into Deutsch available: [Fremdsprachen](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7493355) by [starfishstar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starfishstar/pseuds/starfishstar)
  * Translation into Français available: [Langues Etrangères (Foreign Languages)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7548628) by [Nightchild78](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightchild78/pseuds/Nightchild78)



> For challenge #342 at [tw100](http://tw100.livejournal.com/), “foreign language.”

**1\. Alien Language (Tosh)**

Tosh flashed that disarming little smile Jack was quickly learning to associate with a stroke of even more brilliance than usual on her part.

“Oh,” she said. “That alien communiqué you were worried about? It just reads, ‘Greetings, Earth. Passing through your airspace. No harm intended.’”

Jack raised one eyebrow. “And you know this because…?”

“I wrote a program that compares all known languages in the database, and identifies patterns. Simple, really.”

Jack stared. But Tosh had already turned back to her computer screen, clearly not expecting praise or reaction. “And now I know why I hired you,” he murmured.

 

**2\. Welsh (Owen)**

“No,” Owen said.

“Yes,” Jack said.

“No,” Owen repeated. “You are _not_ telling me they write it as a double ‘L’, but then pronounce it like a cat hacking up a hairball.”

“Owen,” Jack said. “You’re from England. This is one of two official languages of a country _with which you share a land border._ How did the pronunciation of Welsh escape your notice for all these years?”

Owen gave a complicated shrug. “I was busy. With things that were _actually_ important.”

Jack crossed his arms and regarded Owen, wondering if all their interactions were going to be like this.

 

**3\. Latin (Ianto)**

“You speak Latin?” Jack demanded. Ianto had just dusted off a Roman-era tablet unearthed at a building site beyond the outskirts of Cardiff, read the text aloud in a smooth, clear voice, then not even paused before launching into a translation. That had definitely not been in his Torchwood One personnel file.

Ianto ducked his head modestly. “A bit. I dabbled in the Classics for a while.”

“What _other_ skills are you hiding behind that mild façade?” Jack wondered, only half in jest.

Ianto smirked his devastating slow smirk. “I suppose you’ll have to find that out for yourself, sir.”

 

**4\. German (Gwen)**

“Oh, I can’t, really,” Gwen protested. “I was always rubbish at languages at school.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “No one’s asking for an operatic aria here. But you admitted to knowing a song in German about a ladybird, and now none of us are going to let it drop until we’ve heard you sing it.”

Gwen giggled, smiling down at the little red insect that had alighted on her finger. Then she lifted her chin and sang in a surprisingly high, clear, sweet soprano voice:

 _“Marienwürmchen, setze dich_  
_auf meine Hand, auf meine Hand,_  
_ich tu dir nichts zu Leide.”_

 

**5\. Not So Alien Language (Jack)**

“Bnzik,” Jack said suddenly, voice slurred with sleep. “Al frabn?” It had been a late night of research, and even Jack “I Don’t Sleep” Harkness had conked out for a bit on the Hub’s sofa.

“Say what?” Gwen jerked upright in her chair, scrubbing a hand over her face.

“I _said_ , how long was I asleep?”

“Ah, dunno,” Gwen muttered, not seeming to have noticed Jack’s lapse.

Ianto, quietly manning the coffee machine, wondered if it was the first time any of them had heard the 51st century colony world language Jack liked to pretend he’d never grown up speaking.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This language-themed fic now exists in English, Russian, German and French, and I encourage anyone who wants to toss another language translation into the mix! More info on this little translation mini-challenge can be found [here on my livejournal](http://starfishstar.livejournal.com/70220.html).


End file.
